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India’s W. Bengal state tops trafficking in children, women

Activists in Kolkata performing a dance as part of an awareness campaign to stop human trafficking. - EPA

05/07/2017 10:00

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T here were 35,000 cases of child trafficking and 1,25,750 cases of women trafficking reported in India in 2016-17, with West Bengal state topping in both categories, a senior official of the National Anti-Trafficking Committee (NATC) has said. "Among 35,000 reported cases of child trafficking, 13,000 were registered in West Bengal. In percentage terms, it comes to 37," NATC Chairman Sk. Jinnar Ali told reporters in Kolkata on Sunday, on the sidelines of NATC’s West Bengal conference. He said in terms of women trafficking, the eastern state accounted for nearly 42 per cent of the cases in the country. The women victims were mostly trafficked to Mumbai, Chennai and Dubai. Ali said most of the cases of trafficking in women in the past one year came fromt three districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad of West Bengal.

Rehabilitation

The NATC conference announced it would build six more schools for the trafficking victims, besides various other initiatives to curb trafficking. "We have already started 19 schools in various districts of West Bengal for the women trafficking victims. Six more schools are coming up in Malda, Murshidabad and North 24 Parganas district this year in a bid to bring the victims back to mainstream society," Ali said. The initiatives are funded by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Ali said the trafficking victims recovered so far were being trained under the National Skill Development Programme (NSDP) of the central government. "We have placed 25 people in West Bengal in various sectors after training since 2016," he said.

Preventive measures

Talking about the initiatives to curb trafficking in the state, the NATC Chairman said the statutory body was instituting a five member committee in each of the 23 districts. Representatives from police and state administration would be part of such panels. The NATC will also have a toll free number and a mobile app for trafficking-related issues and grievances from July 28. "We will also have block-level action committees in all the districts and conduct police station-level meeting at regular intervals to collect grassroots-level information about the nuances of trafficking," Ali added. (Source: Ians)